This a quality board that offers a lot of features and looks great and I am absolutely thrilled with the purchase. It is also much more competitively priced than the other B550 ITX boards (some of which actually have less features)
Pros:
- Great range of features: front usb-c header, wifi 6, two M.2 slots (1 has active cooling which is controllable and quiet, 1 on the rear), solid VRM and heatsink
-Additional features like bios flashback (enables you to update BIOS for compatibility with ryzen 5000 series CPUs without needing an older CPU) and diagnostic lights (so you can troubleshoot whether it's your RAM/CPU/GPU or something else when your pc doesn't boot) that gives you real peace of mind, especially if you are first time builder like me!
-Sleek,understated, dark looks with a professional looking I/O shield that doesn't look like a 14-year old gamer designed it. And for me, no RGB is a plus!
Cons (these are more nitpicks than cons)
- The hd audio and front panel connector headers are not in the most ideal position, being at the bottom left of the board which means routing these cables over the top of the VRM and next to the CPU cooler. However, to be clear this does not affect performance in any way and just required a bit more fiddling when connecting. This is the price you pay when going small form factor.
-Be aware there are 2 fan headers, so you will need a splitter if you want to run more than that (personally I only run 2 fans so it was fine)
Final Note:
-CMOS jumper: I've seen a lot of older reviews complain about the location of the CMOS jumper, being behind the I/O shield and not being readily accessible. This is no longer an issue. Apparently when this board first came out, it was not possible to reset the CMOS easily because the jumper was hidden behind the I/O, but it's clear that MSI have listened as on my board (purchased late Nov 2020) this has been rectified with a small cut out on the I/O. Also apparently a BIOS update allows you to hold the power button for 5-10 sec to reset the CMOS.